Tips For SEO Success – Part 1 – On-Page Content

Tips For SEO Success – Part 1 – On-Page Content

The good news about Search Engine Optimization is that the fundamentals haven’t changed all that much over the past year…your primary goal is still to incorporate words and phrases that people are using to find your business and products. However, achieving SEO success is still tricky business.

The correlation between quality content and improved search results is still very real. As eCommerce web developers have become fond of saying, “Bad content is bad for your business.” This is where a deeper understanding of On-Page SEO becomes important. Why? Because if you don’t get your content right, it’s going to be REALLY difficult to bump up your SEO ranking with other types of activity.

What Is On-Page Content?
As the name suggests, On-Page Content is the words, images, videos, charts, graphs, etc. that appear on your website. And let’s put it this way…GOOGLE REWARDS QUALITY CONTENT. In Google’s own words, “creating compelling and useful content will likely influence your website more than any of the other factors.”

With that important advice in mind, let’s consider several keys to showing the Google algorithms you mean business when it comes to content.

BE ORIGINAL—Make no mistake…Google loves new content. So start a blog or add to your existing one, post new images, create a video or infographic. Remember, though, “new” means “new”. Rehashing or copying existing content adds little value to your customers or your search engine placement. And having duplicate versions of the same material on different pages of your site does not sit well with Google.

BE USEFUL—Despite our advice about the benefits of adding original content to your site, Google cautions that the content should be meaningful. In other words, publishing for the sake of publishing isn’t a wise approach. Instead, think about what your customers might like to read and then write about it. Check out what’s trending in your industry and put together an infographic based on what you’ve noticed. No matter the route you choose, your goal is to deliver material that is worth reading and sharing.

BE ORGANIZED—As you develop your On-Page presence, be sure to consider the flow of your content. As yourself, Will readers understand where one topic ends and another begins? To help users find what they’re looking for, Google advises that content be broken up in “logical chunks”. More specifically, the search engine giant says it’s smart to avoid “dumping large amounts of text on varying topics onto a page without paragraph, subheading, or layout separation”.

BE SMART—As you develop your content, think heavily about which keywords will resonate best with the audience you’re trying to reach. Let’s say you’re writing about Star Wars. Avid fans of the movie franchise might use lesser known terms like “Kylo Ren”, “Anakin” or “Palpatine”, while those new to the series will settle on more familiar terms such as “Darth Vader”, “Han Solo” and “Luke Skywalker”. Google asserts…”Anticipating these differences in search behavior and accounting for them while writing your content could produce positive results.” As you move forward with your keyword development, don’t forget to use Google’s Keyword Tool to help identify keyword variations and understand search volume for each keyword.

As you think about the content that makes up your website, answer the questions on this handy checklist to gauge your connection to search engine success:
• Is my content original?
• Am I publishing content on my own website first?
• Is my content delivered in a logical format?
• Am I using the proper keywords?
• Is my content meaningful?

If your answers are “Yes”, you’re off to a great start. If not, don’t wait any longer to reconsider your On-Page strategy. SEO success is waiting!

If you’d like to speak with a professional about improving your search engine placement, contact DotcomWeavers at [email protected] or 888.315.6518.

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